Warming

Chapter 4

Lucille leaned lazily against the wall in the hospital ward’s corridor with her arms crossed and a foot propped up. She slowly straightened up when a tall figure approached her.

As soon as she did so, Harold. said coldly, “You’ve really disappointed me, Lucy! When

did

you become so cold and heartless? How could you throw Sabrina into the pond like that when she can’t swim? Why do you keep trying to kill her?”

Lucille narrowed her eyes at him. Her gaze was frosty. Harold was taken aback slightly when he saw this. Her iciness and arrogance made him feel uncomfortable.

“You show no sign of remorse at all. To think Bree’s been speaking up for you all these years… She even tried to protect you before passing out earlier! Doesn’t that weigh on your conscience? Do you even have a conscience?”

-Harold grew angrier as he spoke. Naturally, his words became increasingly harsh. His

disappointment was clear, but he was more contemptuous than anything.

“Who are you to lecture me, Harold? Are you coming at me from a fiancé’s perspective or as Sabrina’s secret lover?” Lucille smiled mockingly. Her crisp voice. was filled with ice. “Why don’t you go ask your beloved why I became like this? Ask her what she’s done to make me like this.”

Harold immediately spoke up for Sabrina. “What could Bree have done to you when she’s so frail? When hasn’t she spoken up for you when you’ve tried to harm her?”

Lucille snorted. “Have any of you bothered asking whether I needed her to speak up

for me?”

Harold’s blood boiled at her proud and stubborn attitude. “Do you think you’d still be standing here if she never stood up for you?”

“Oh? Does that mean I need to thank her for this?” Lucille retorted.

“Of course! That’s exactly what you need to do!”

She rolled her eyes at him. His words fell on deaf ears. She said coldly, “When she’s dead, I’ll visit her grave with a bouquet and thank her then.”

Harold’s pupils constricted. He couldn’t believe Lucille had said something like that to his face. It looked like she genuinely hated Sabrina for taking him from her.

He tried to remain patient as he said, “I’ve already told you this, Lucy. Bree is the one I

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love, so you need to stop being so hung up on me. The more you act like this, the more I’ll dislike you.

Lucille raised an eyebrow at his words. “What the fuck does who you love have to do with me? It’s not like I have any feelings for you. How dare you dislike me when you’re nothing but a cheating bastard!”

Harold suddenly felt stung by her words. It only lasted for a second, though. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lucille didn’t want to waste her breath and time on him anymore. She looked into his eyes and said, “It means that we can call off the engagement, but I have to be the one to initiate it. You’re not the one who doesn’t want me, Harold. I’m the one who doesn’t want you!”

“You-”

She pointed at him and warned, “Remember this–don’t let Sabrina cause any more trouble for me, or I’ll teach her a lesson every time she does!”

Harold snapped, “Who gave you the permission to talk to me like that, Lucille?”

She ignored him and continued, “Don’t forget what I said, Mr. Quall. If you want your precious little lover to stay safe, tell her to leave me alone!”

With that, she turned and left.

Early the following morning, various media outlets published the news of Lucille and Harold’s engagement being called off. Everyone knew Lucille was a cruel, heartless woman. There was no way the Quall family would let her marry Harold.

But no one expected her to be the one to call off the engagement. Everyone had expected the Quall family to call things off. This was a surprising plot twist, and netizens lapped up the drama. They were abuzz in the comment section.

“Tsk. She’s an ingrate who only knows how to frame her sister. How can she be worthy of Mr. Quall?”

“I know, right? I heard she keeps trying to steal her sister’s boyfriend. She’s shameless!”

“Well, I think Ms. Sabrina and Mr. Quall make a perfect pair. They look so good together!”

“Whoever left that comment before me–are you nuts?”

“Exactly! You must be an anti–fan!”

“If Ms. Sabrina and Mr. Quall get together immediately after this engagement is called off, God knows what she’ll be getting herself into…”

“Guys, go check out Ms. Lucille’s Twitter!”

At that comment, everyone flooded Lucille’s Twitter. She’d tweeted an ellipsis and a photo of three wheel

“Oh? Does this mean there are three people in her relationship?”

“So she called the engagement off because a certain someone cheated?”

“Damn. This photo’s really meaningful! I’m gonna retweet this!”

A picture’s worth a thousand words. You go, girl!”

“This subtle hint isn’t that subtle, after all.”

“I’ve gotta say this is a great move. Three’s a crowd, indeed!”

The comments went on. By the time Harold heard about this, the matter had already made it to third place on the trending topics. He hadn’t expected Lucille to pull something like this at all.

She’d indeed called the engagement off, but the way she’d done it had ensured he and Sabrina couldn’t go public with their relationship just yet. If they did so, they’d

cause an uproar online.

He was on his way to work when his father, Lincoln Quall, called. He sounded furious. as he said, “Call Lucille and tell her to delete her tweet, Harry. This is a slap to the Quall family’s face!”

“Got it, Dad.” Harold’s expression was ugly, and his gaze was frosty.

Sean, who was riding shotgun, turned to look at him grimly. “Mr. Quall, our stock price has dropped by 2%,”

He hadn’t expected Lucille’s tweet to affect Quall Group’s stock price. If Harold and Sabrina’s relationship were to come to light, wouldn’t it wreak even more havoc?

Harold snarled, “Get the PR department to deal with it. Get rid of the trending topic!”

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“Yes, sir.”

Meanwhile, when Sabrina woke up in her hospital room at Central Hospital, she received a text from her friend, Marilyn Dane She was pleased to see Lucille had agreed to call off the engagement. But a few minutes later, the blood drained from her face when she saw Lucille’s tweet.

“That bitch!” She flung her phone at the door. Her face twisted with fury.

Ivy happened to show up with breakfast for Sabrina. She entered the room while looking concerned. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Why are you so mad so early in the morning?”

Sabrina told her about everything that had happened. Ivy’s expression became sour when she was done. The mother and daughter shared similar expressions; they both wanted to rip Lucille to pieces.

“How dare the little bitch pull something like this!” Ivy snarled.

Sabrina was aggrieved. Feeling panicked, she grabbed Ivy’s hand and said, “What should we do, Mom? The bitch agreed to call off the engagement, but Harry and I still can’t be together in public.”

Ivy patted her on the shoulder and said seriously, “Think about what I’ve always told you, Bree. Don’t panic, no matter what.”

“But the bitch-”

Ivy cut her off, looking grim. “So what? As long as you have Harold’s heart and your father and grandfather on your side, Lucille isn’t a threat to you. Whatever the Johnson family has will belong to you, as will the position of Harold’s wife.”

She smiled ruthlessly. “It’s just a matter of time, so you need to learn to be patient. A woman’s gentleness and frailness is the key to keeping a man’s heart, okay?”

Sabrina calmed down. Ivy was right–all men loved women who were frail and understanding, just like Harold did. He would always be on her side as long as she could keep up her gentle act. Her goal was to stomp all over Lucille’s pride and to ensure Lucille would always come second.

She gnashed her teeth angrily at the thought of Lucille throwing her into the murky pond. It was fortunate that she could swim and didn’t end up drowning. Harold had also arrived at the right time.

Chapter 4

125 BONUS

She’d asked him to accompany her at the hospital and used her condition as a reason. Then, she’d deliberately left her phone in the hospital room. She’d ended up more disheveled than expected, but at least it had resulted in Harold being thoroughly disappointed by Lucille. It had all been worth it.

Lucille arrived at Star&Ciel Group at 9:00 am and headed to the CEO’s office.

“Ms. Johnson, the two tweets you published this morning are already in the top three trending topics.” Her assistant, Samuel Sawyer, followed her into her office.

Lucille took her cream–colored coat off and hung it on the coat rack as soon as she entered the office. She hung her bag up as well. Then, she pulled her chair out, sat down, and turned on the computer. It looked like Samuel’s words didn’t bother her.